Valve sealing means

ABSTRACT

A retrofit valve for primarily for use in conventional domestic, agricultural and commercial water taps. The valve has a seat ( 10 ) located in a passageway between a water inlet ( 11 ) and a water outlet ( 12 ). A spherical sealing member ( 13 ) is arranged to seal against the fluid inlet side of the seat, and a plunger ( 12 ) is provided for moving the sealing member off the seat.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to valves and is particularly concerned withvalves for use in conventional domestic, agricultural and commercialwater taps. Accordingly, the invention will primarily be described inthese contexts although it will be readily apparent to the skilledaddressee that the invention has broader ramifications and may bereadily modified to suit other applications. The following descriptionis therefore not to be deemed limiting on the scope of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART

Common domestic water taps comprise a tap body having a fluid flowpathway extending therethrough, a valve seat located intermediate thefluid flow pathway, a tap spindle moveable towards and away from thevalve seat which includes an axial recess, and a tap head which connectsto the tap body and which houses the tap spindle. The tap head includesan opening in the top through which an upper portion of the tap spindleextends and on which a handle is fitted to permit the tap spindle to berotated in the tap head and thereby move either towards or away from thevalve seat.

Valves which are commonly used with this type of tap are known as tapwashers or jumper valves and comprise a disc-like seal which overliesthe valve seat, and a stem which extends from the disc-like seal andlocates within the tap spindle. Thus, movement of the tap spindletowards the valve seat causes the disc-like seal to be brought intoengagement with the valve seat to thereby stop the flow of water throughthe tap body.

Such disc-like seals have a number of disadvantages, prime among whichare their proclivity to rapid wear, leading to a relatively limited lifespan. Also, it is quite common for particulate debris to be trapped onthe disc so that a firm seating cannot be achieved and dripping occurs.In addition, there must be absolute tolerance between the valve seat andthe valve seal otherwise it is necessary to exert significant turningpressure on the tap handle to ensure that the seal is properly sealed.This can lead to cracking of the valve seat.

One method of solving the problem of valve wear and the problem ofdebris entrapment is the subject of Australian Patent No. 630040. Inthat patent there is described a valve assembly which includes aresiliently deformable spherical sealing member on the downstream sideof the valve seat. The sealing member is retained within the valve bodyby means of a helical spring which surrounds the spherical sealingmember.

A slight drawback in the valve design described in the aforementionedAustralian Patent is that in order to turn the tap off, the tap spindlemust be tightly wound down to ensure that the spherical sealing memberis firmly pressed against its seat. Since the sealing member is movingagainst the flow of fluid, this can require quite a few completerevolutions of the tap handle before the flow ceases completely.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore an object of the invention to provide an alternativevalve construction which has the advantages of the aforementioned valvebut addresses the drawback associated with turning the valve off, thatis, by providing a simpler action requiring less turning of the valvehandle.

A further object of the invention is to provide a retrofit valve whichis adapted for use in conventional tap systems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided avalve having a seat located in a passageway between a fluid inlet and afluid outlet, a sealing member adapted to seal against the fluid inletside of the seat, and a plunger for moving the sealing member off theseat.

The design of the valve is such that the pressure of the fluid is usedto form the seal, thereby enabling a quick seal to be achieved.Furthermore, when the valve is incorporated into a tap body, the taphandle on the end of the plunger need only be rotated by between aboutone quarter and one half a turn to fully unseat the sealing member toenable full fluid flow through the valve. Also, it is impossible todamage the valve seat when closing the valve as the pressure of thefluid which enables this closure is considerably less than the forceexerted by a person in winding a conventional valve shut.

The design of the valve is also such that it can be readily retrofitinto an existing tap system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The sealing member preferably has a spherical configuration althoughother shapes are not excluded. The sealing member can be formed from aresilient material but is preferably of solid, rigid construction. Suchmaterials of construction include stainless steel and brass, as well asnatural and synthetic rubbers with appropriate additives, plasticsmaterials, composites of these materials, and the like. It can,furthermore, be of solid or hollow construction.

It can be desirable, but not essential, that the sealing member and theinlet side of the valve seat are of complementary shape in the regionwhere they abut one another, so as to guarantee a liquid-tight sealbetween the sealing member and the inlet side of the valve seat when thesealing member is in its closed position. For example, with thepreferred spherical sealing member, the inlet side of the valve seat canbe provided with a slightly concavely curved sealing surface extendingaround the flow aperture. However, as noted, this is not essential andit is typically sufficient in the majority of cases to provide aresilient seal of fabric or plastics material for the sealing member tolocate onto. This will generally provide adequate sealing in the valvebody.

Biasing means are preferably included in the valve design to bias thesealing member against the seat and to guide the sealing member to itssealing location. Such biasing means can comprise a spring, such as ahelical compression spring, located on the fluid inlet side of the seat.The biasing means will suitably be fabricated from non-toxic,non-corrosive materials such as stainless-steel and plastics materials.

The plunger suitably extends through the valve seat from the fluidoutlet side of the passageway and can be retained by, or formedintegrally with, a rotatable spindle of an associated tap handle.Preferably the plunger is formed integrally with the spindle and has areduced cylindrical configuration at the end which acts against thesealing member to unseat it and open the valve.

Another aspect of the present invention is a tap incorporating a valveas described above. The tap can be of a conventional domestic water tapor a single handle hot and cold mixing tap incorporating two of theaforementioned valve arrangements.

The tap design is such that it only takes between about ¼ and ½ arotation of the handle to turn it fully on. Also since the action ofturning on is against the flow of water and the reverse action ofturning off is with the flow of water, overtightening of the tap isavoided and it is therefore essentially damage-proof. Turning off, infact, conveys a very soft feel as such an action is assisted by the flowof water and the biasing means.

The fact that sealing is effected by means of a spherically sealingmember such as a stainless steel ball or the like, means that there isvery little wear at the point of sealing and the sealing member can beexpected to last the life of the tap.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a valve according to the presentinvention,

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the valve of FIG. 1 in a tap body,

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view similar to FIG. 2 but wherein the valveis open,

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of a hot and cold mixer tapincorporating two valves according to the present invention, and

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the mixer tap of FIG. 4.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numeralsrefer to like parts.

Referring firstly to FIG. 1, the valve has a seat 10 located in apassageway between a fluid inlet 11 and a fluid outlet 12.

A stainless steel spherical sealing member 13 is located on the inletside of the seat 10.

A cylindrical plunger 14 is located for axial movement in a housing 15,to move the sealing element from the seat. The plunger 14 has a taperedend 16 so that it can extend through an opening in the seat 10 withoutsignificantly impeding the flow of fluid past the seat as hereinafterdescribed. A helical groove 17 in the housing 15 accommodates a detent18 on the plunger 14, and regulates the axial movement of the plunger asit is rotated.

The sealing element 13 is guided to its seating position by a helicalspring 20 and by virtue of the pressure of the fluid at the inlet sideof the seat, as described below.

Reference is now made to FIG. 2 which shows the previously describedvalve fitted to a tap body 21. The tap body can either be a bodyspecifically made for the valve or it can be the tap body of aconventional tap which has had its original valve seating systemremoved.

The tap body 21 is connected to a pressurised fluid supply at 22 and hasan outlet passageway at 23.

The valve is fitted to the tap body and secured thereto by a collar 24which is held by the housing 15 and which screws into the tap body. Awasher 26 seals the bottom region of the valve to the tap body.

FIG. 3 shows the sealing member 13 displaced from its seat by theplunger 14 and the flow of fluid through the tap and valve indicated byheavy arrows.

In use, fluid flow through the tap is prevented, as shown in FIG. 2, bythe stainless steel spherical sealing element 13 seating against theseat 10 due to the pressure of the fluid on the inlet side of the valve.That is, the pressure of the fluid is used to advantage to provide theseal. Additionally, sealing can be provided by the helical spring 20should the pressure in the system at the inlet happen to fall below thatwhich would otherwise enable self-sealing to occur.

Rotation of the tap handle 25 by between only about one quarter to onethird of a full rotation is sufficient to wind the cylindrical plunger14 downwardly by an amount which fully unseats the sealing element 13from the seat 10 so that it is displaced to the location shown in FIG.3. It will be observed that the sealing element is fully depressed intoa bottom corner of the chamber in which it is located, this also beingenabled by the helical spring 20 which, upon compression, acts as aguide for the sealing element to this position.

In this unseated position, fluid is free to flow through the tap in thedirection shown by the arrows.

In order to turn the tap off, the handle 25 is rotated in the opposing(ie. clockwise) direction to that when it was turned on, allowing thesealing element 13 to rise under the pressure of fluid at the fluidinlet, and to be guided by the helical spring to seal against the seat10. Alternatively, closing could be effected automatically once theturning force on the tap handle 25 is removed. To this end, forinstance, a heavier helical spring could be used instead of the normalspring 20.

Reference is now made to FIGS. 4 and 5 which illustrate a multi-valvearrangement incorporated into a hot and cold mixer tap.

The mixer tap includes a fixed housing having a handle 30, a rotatablespout 31, and hot and cold water inlets 32, 33. Each water inlet 32, 33has an associated valve arrangement consisting of a stainless steel ball34 (35) surmounted on a helical spring 54 (55), a seat 36 (37) and aplunger 38 (39) with a tapered end 40 (41) which can extend through anopening in the seat. A plurality of channel outlets, e.g. 42, 43 areformed in the mixer tap casting which connect to the rotatable spout 31.

The upper ends of the respective plungers 38, 39 freely contact afloating plate 44 which is acted upon by a shaft 45 extending through aswivel control 46. The swivel control has lugs 47, 49 which support thecontrol in the upper portion of the housing in such a manner that it canpivot from side to side. A sloping slot 50 is formed in the wall of theswivel control for accommodating a pin 51, which is connected to theshaft 45, to regulate the axial movement of the shaft 45 when it isrotated by handle 30 in a manner analogous to that described in theearlier embodiment.

In operation, fluid flow through the mixer is prevented by the stainlesssteel balls 34, 35 seating against their respective seats 36, 37, due tothe pressure of the fluid on the inlet sides of the valves.

Rotation of the handle 30 by between about one quarter to one third of afull, rotation is sufficient to drive the shaft 45 fully downward,guided by the slot 50, and depress the floating plate 44 against the topends of the plungers 38, 39. This, in turn, depresses the plungers sothat their respective tapered ends pass through the valve seat openingsand displace the stainless steel balls 34, 35 from their seats, therebyenabling hot and cold water to flow in equal amounts through the valvehousings, into the channel outlets, e.g. 42, 43 and out through thespout 31.

In order to regulate the relative flows of hot and cold water, thehandle 30 is rocked toward the hot or cold water inlet side so that theswivel control 46 pivots on its lugs 47, 49 and directs the end of theshaft 45 to one of the sides of the floating plate 44. The floatingplate then tilts and depresses either plunger 38 or 39 to a greater orlesser extent than the other. This results in the relative displacementof the stainless steel balls in their respective housings, beingdifferent so that the relative flow of hot and cold water is changed.

Halting the flow of water through the mixer can be by counter-rotationof the handle manually, or automatically as described in the previousembodiment.

1. A valve comprising: a seat located in a passageway between a fluidinlet and a fluid outlet; a spherical sealing member adapted to sealagainst the fluid inlet side of the seat; and a plunger for moving thesealing member off the seat, said plunger being reciprocally moveable byrotation such that between about one quarter and one half a turn isrequired to fully unseat the spherical sealing member and thereby enablefull fluid flow through the valve; wherein the plunger is adapted toproject through the seat from the outlet side of the seat and includes acylindrical configuration with a tapered end portion which can projectthrough the seat when the plunger is rotated about its axis; and whereinthe plunger is arranged for longitudinal movement within a housing, saidplunger including a detent which slots into a groove formed in the wallof the housing to regulate the longitudinal movement of the plunger whenit is rotated.
 2. A valve comprising: a housing; a seat located in apassageway between a fluid inlet and a fluid outlet; a sealing memberadapted to seal against a fluid inlet side of the seat; a plunger formoving the sealing member off the seat, the plunger being arranged forreciprocal movement within the housing; wherein the valve furtherincludes a projection that engages with a groove whereby rotation of atap handle causes movement of the projection in the groove to therebylongitudinally move the plunger whereby between about one-quarter andone-half of a turn is required to fully unseat the sealing member andthereby enable full fluid flow through the valve.
 3. A valve as claimedin claim 2 wherein the groove is formed in a wall of the housing and theprojection is formed on the plunger such that rotation of the tap handlecauses rotation of the plunger and the projection moves in the groove tocause longitudinal movement of the plunger.
 4. A valve as claimed inclaim 3 wherein the groove is a helical groove.
 5. A valve as claim inclaim 2 wherein the sealing member is biased against the seat bymechanical biasing means as well as by pressure of fluid at the fluidinlet.
 6. A valve as claimed in claim 5 wherein the mechanical biasingmeans is a spring located on the fluid inlet side of the seat.
 7. Avalve as claimed in claim 2 wherein the sealing member is a sphericalsealing member.
 8. A valve as claimed in claim 2 wherein the plunger isadapted to project through the seat from the outlet side of the seat. 9.A valve as claimed in claim 8 wherein the plunger has a cylindricalconfiguration with a tapered end portion which can project through theseat.
 10. A valve for retrofitting to a tap body, the tap body includingan inlet, an outlet, a tap body valve seat located in a tap body flowpassageway extending between the inlet and the outlet and an opening forreceiving a prior fitted valve in which a valve seal member forms a sealwith the tap body valve seat to halt fluid flow through the tap body,the valve comprising: a valve housing connectable to the tap body in afluid tight manner, the valve housing having a fluid passageway betweena fluid inlet and a fluid outlet; a valve housing seat formed in thefluid passageway; a sealing member adapted to seal against a fluid inletside of the valve housing seat and an actuating mechanism to move thesealing member off the valve housing seat; and wherein fluid flow iscontrolled by operating the actuating mechanism to move the sealingmember away from the valve housing seat to allow fluid to flow andoperating the actuating member to cause the sealing member to sealagainst the fluid inlet side of the valve housing seat; whereby when thevalve is connected to the tap body in a fluid tight manner, fluid flowsinto the inlet of the tap body and then through the fluid inlet and thenthrough the fluid outlet and then exits the outlet of the tap body whenfluid is flowing through the valve; and wherein the actuating mechanismincludes a plunger for moving the sealing member off the valve housingseat, the plunger being arranged for reciprocal movement within thehousing, the valve further including a projection that engages with agroove whereby rotation of a tap handle causes movement of theprojection in the groove to thereby longitudinally move the plunger,whereby between about one-quarter and one-half of a turn is required tofully unseat the sealing member and thereby enable full fluid flowthrough the valve.
 11. A valve as claimed in claim 10 wherein the grooveis formed in a wall of the wall housing and the projection is formed onthe plunger such that rotation of the tap handle causes rotation of theplunger and the projection moves in the groove to cause longitudinalmovement of the plunger.
 12. A valve as claimed in claim 11 wherein thegroove is a helical groove.
 13. A valve as claimed in claim 11 whereinthe plunger is adopted to project through the seat from the fluid outletside of the seat.
 14. A valve as claimed in claim 13 wherein the plungerhas a cylindrical configuration with a tapered portion which can projectthrough the seat.
 15. A valve as claimed in claim 10 wherein the sealingmember is biased against the valve housing seat by a mechanical biasingmeans as well as pressure of the fluid at the fluid inlet.
 16. A valveas claimed in claim 15 wherein the mechanical biasing means is a springlocated on the fluid inlet side of the seat.
 17. A valve as claimed inclaim 10 wherein the sealing member is a spherical seating member.